Kejadian 15:18

15:18 That day the Lord made a covenant ¹  with Abram: “To your descendants I give ²  this land, from the river of Egypt ³  to the great river, the Euphrates River –

Kejadian 21:22-32

21:22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you ⁴  in all that you do. 21:23 Now swear to me right here in God’s name ⁵  that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. ⁶  Show me, and the land ⁷  where you are staying, ⁸  the same loyalty ⁹  that I have shown you.” ¹⁰ 

21:24 Abraham said, “I swear to do this.” ¹¹  21:25 But Abraham lodged a complaint ¹²  against Abimelech concerning a well ¹³  that Abimelech’s servants had seized. ¹⁴  21:26 “I do not know who has done this thing,” Abimelech replied. “Moreover, ¹⁵  you did not tell me. I did not hear about it until today.”

21:27 Abraham took some sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. The two of them made a treaty. ¹⁶  21:28 Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs apart from the flock by themselves. 21:29 Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these ¹⁷  seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 21:30 He replied, “You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof ¹⁸  that I dug this well.” ¹⁹  21:31 That is why he named that place ²⁰  Beer Sheba, ²¹  because the two of them swore ²²  an oath there.

21:32 So they made a treaty ²³  at Beer Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned ²⁴  to the land of the Philistines. ²⁵ 

Kejadian 26:28-31

26:28 They replied, “We could plainly see ²⁶  that the Lord is with you. So we decided there should be ²⁷  a pact between us ²⁸  – between us ²⁹  and you. Allow us to make ³⁰  a treaty with you 26:29 so that ³¹  you will not do us any harm, just as we have not harmed ³²  you, but have always treated you well ³³  before sending you away ³⁴  in peace. Now you are blessed by the Lord.” ³⁵ 

26:30 So Isaac ³⁶  held a feast for them and they celebrated. ³⁷  26:31 Early in the morning the men made a treaty with each other. ³⁸  Isaac sent them off; they separated on good terms. ³⁹ 

[15:18]  ¹ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[15:18]  ² tn The perfect verbal form is understood as instantaneous (“I here and now give”). Another option is to understand it as rhetorical, indicating certitude (“I have given” meaning it is as good as done, i.e., “I will surely give”).

[15:18]  sn To your descendants I give this land. The Lord here unconditionally promises that Abram’s descendants will possess the land, but he does not yet ratify his earlier promises to give Abram a multitude of descendants and eternal possession of the land. The fulfillment of those aspects of the promise remain conditional (see Gen 17:1-8) and are ratified after Abraham offers up his son Isaac (see Gen 22:1-19). For a fuller discussion see R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 35-54.

[15:18]  ³ sn The river of Egypt is a wadi (a seasonal stream) on the northeastern border of Egypt, not to the River Nile.

[21:22]  ⁴ sn God is with you. Abimelech and Phicol recognized that Abraham enjoyed special divine provision and protection.

[21:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “And now swear to me by God here.”

[21:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “my offspring and my descendants.”

[21:23]  ⁷ tn The word “land” refers by metonymy to the people in the land.

[21:23]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew verb means “to stay, to live, to sojourn” as a temporary resident without ownership rights.

[21:23]  ⁹ tn Or “kindness.”

[21:23]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “According to the loyalty which I have done with you, do with me and with the land in which you are staying.”

[21:24]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I swear.” No object is specified in the Hebrew text, but the content of the oath requested by Abimelech is the implied object.

[21:25]  ¹² tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to argue; to dispute”; it can focus on the beginning of the dispute (as here), the dispute itself, or the resolution of a dispute (Isa 1:18). Apparently the complaint was lodged before the actual oath was taken.

[21:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “concerning the matter of the well of water.”

[21:25]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to steal; to rob; to take violently.” The statement reflects Abraham’s perspective.

[21:26]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and also.”

[21:27]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[21:29]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “What are these?”

[21:30]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “that it be for me for a witness.”

[21:30]  ¹⁹ sn This well. Since the king wanted a treaty to share in Abraham’s good fortune, Abraham used the treaty to secure ownership of and protection for the well he dug. It would be useless to make a treaty to live in this territory if he had no rights to the water. Abraham consented to the treaty, but added his rider to it.

[21:31]  ²⁰ tn Heb “that is why he called that place.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive, “that is why that place was called.”

[21:31]  ²¹ sn The name Beer Sheba (בְּאֵר שָׁבַע, bÿ’er shava’) means “well of the oath” or “well of the seven.” Both the verb “to swear” and the number “seven” have been used throughout the account. Now they are drawn in as part of the explanation of the significance of the name.

[21:31]  ²² sn The verb forms a wordplay with the name Beer Sheba.

[21:32]  ²³ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[21:32]  ²⁴ tn Heb “arose and returned.”

[21:32]  ²⁵ sn The Philistines mentioned here may not be ethnically related to those who lived in Palestine in the time of the judges and the united monarchy. See D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 238.

[26:28]  ²⁶ tn The infinitive absolute before the verb emphasizes the clarity of their perception.

[26:28]  ²⁷ tn Heb “And we said, ‘Let there be.’” The direct discourse in the Hebrew text has been rendered as indirect discourse in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[26:28]  ²⁸ tn The pronoun “us” here is inclusive – it refers to the Philistine contingent on the one hand and Isaac on the other.

[26:28]  ²⁹ tn The pronoun “us” here is exclusive – it refers to just the Philistine contingent (the following “you” refers to Isaac).

[26:28]  ³⁰ tn The translation assumes that the cohortative expresses their request. Another option is to understand the cohortative as indicating resolve: “We want to make.’”

[26:29]  ³¹ tn The oath formula is used: “if you do us harm” means “so that you will not do.”

[26:29]  ³² tn Heb “touched.”

[26:29]  ³³ tn Heb “and just as we have done only good with you.”

[26:29]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and we sent you away.”

[26:29]  ³⁵ tn The Philistine leaders are making an observation, not pronouncing a blessing, so the translation reads “you are blessed” rather than “may you be blessed” (cf. NAB).

[26:30]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:30]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and they ate and drank.”

[26:31]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and they got up early and they swore an oath, a man to his brother.”

[26:31]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and they went from him in peace.”